Automattic's new lawyers lose bid for more time in legal fight with WP Engine. Automattic's new lawyers asked for more time to get up to speed on the case. The judge said no, and now they're scrambling to question expert witnesses before the first summary judgment deadline. Oct 16, 2026 Rae Morey is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of The Repository, an independent publication covering the WordPress ecosystem... A federal judge has denied Automattic's request for two more months to prepare for the next big stage of its legal fight with WP Engine. U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín stamped the request "DENIED" on Tuesday without giving reasons. That means the current deadlines stand. Both sides must finish questioning each other's expert witnesses by November 17, and the first major arguments to the judge are due three days later. A 10-day jury trial is still set for October 19, 2027. It's the third time since June that Automattic has asked for more time, and the first time the court has said no outright. The judge gave Automattic about half of what it asked for in June and most of its request in September. Automattic's new lawyers, Susman Godfrey, filed the latest extension request on September 30, about two weeks after they were hired to replace Gibson Dunn. Susman partner Shawn Rabin wrote in a sworn statement that Gibson Dunn left the case "due to a conflict of interest." The court filings don't say what the conflict was, and Automattic didn't respond to a request for comment. Susman represents Automattic, WooCommerce, and the WordPress Foundation. CEO Matt Mullenweg has his own lawyers, Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass, who joined the case in March. The next stage of the case is summary judgment, which will decide what goes to trial. Each side can ask the judge to throw out claims it argues don't stand up on the facts. A claim the judge rejects is out of the case, though the ruling can be appealed later. Only the claims that survive reach a jury. A lot is riding on it. WP Engine is pursuing the antitrust claims Martínez-Olguín revived last month, which carry triple damages if it wins at trial, along with claims that Automattic interfered with its business and competed unfairly. Automattic's trademark claims against WP Engine, now brought only by the WordPress Foundation and WooCommerce, are also still in the case. According to Automattic's motion, WP Engine is claiming "hundreds of millions of dollars" in damages. Both sides' summary judgment arguments will lean heavily on expert witnesses, and between them they've lined up 22. Emails filed with Automattic's motion show WP Engine's 10 include Harvard Business School professor Paul Gompers and Frank Nagle, Microsoft's chief AI economist. Automattic's 12 include economists Jonathan Orszag and Andres Lerner, open source licensing lawyer Heather Meeker, and two of its own employees, CTO Barry Abrahamson and Architecture & Open Source Director Anne McCarthy. Each side gets to question the other's experts under oath, and can then ask the judge to exclude any it argues are unreliable. In their request, Automattic's lawyers said they couldn't meet the November 17 deadline, arguing that six weeks wasn't enough time to get through the expert depositions. "Susman is completely new to every single fact and expert issue," they wrote, calling the task of catching up "a herculean one under the existing schedule." WP Engine refused to agree to any extension. In an email filed with the request, its lead lawyer, Rachel Herrick Kassabian, told Automattic's lawyers the schedule was workable for "a legal team of your size and sophistication." It also told the court that Automattic hadn't questioned a single expert yet, and had agreed to dates for only three of its own 12 experts. It argued Automattic had "effectively squandered" its two earlier extensions. Automattic's lawyers wrote that they were "scheduling as many depositions in the coming weeks as feasible, and have been working cooperatively with WPE to do so." Disclosure: WP Engine and Automattic-owned Pressable sponsor The Repository. You've read 1 stories from The Repository this year. Independent reporting in the WordPress ecosystem takes time, research, and conversations with the people shaping it. If you value this work, consider supporting The Repository to keep it sustainable.

Automattic has a new board after failed attempt to put CEO on leave | TechCrunch. Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg has rebuilt the company's board just weeks after its previous directors tried, and failed, to oust him. The board, which was announced to staff Friday, is an eclectic group that includes a best-selling science fiction author and two co-founders of the now-defunct social app IRL, TechCrunch has learned. The new board is the latest twist in an internal governance fight at Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, Tumblr, WooCommerce, and others. Earlier this month, the previous board voted to place Mullenweg on leave in an attempt to remove him from the board, only to have the CEO retake control just 33 hours later and remove or accept the resignations of the directors who were involved. This week, Mullenweg posted about a board meeting, but didn't share who he was meeting with. Now, he's finally informing Automattic employees of the board changes via the company's announcements channel in Slack. Sources told TechCrunch the new Automattic board includes: * American writer Hugh Howey, author of the "Silo" book series. (Mullenweg and Howey both hiked along the Camino de Santiago in Spain back in 2018. * "Breakup Bootcamp" author Amy Chan (who recently reposted Mullenweg's tweet about the company's AI site builder, Spacefast). * IRL co-founder Henry Khatachryan, who Mullenweg described as "a founder and builder," a longtime collaborator with the late technology writer Om Malik and the website builder of journalist Nick Bilton. * And Krutal Desai, who co-founded the social app IRL with Khatachryan. Egerin Inc. should note that IRL shut down after investigations revealed that nearly all of its user base was made up of bots. The co-founders, who also included CEO Abraham Shafi, later sued SoftBank and other investors after SoftBank had sued for securities fraud. A slew of new advisers have also joined, including Curio Studio co-founder Jaime Waydo, June co-founder Matt Van Horn, and KISSmetrics co-founder Hiten Shah. In the announcement to staff, Mullenweg reportedly wrote that, "for purposes of Delaware law, I am the CEO, President, Treasurer, and Secretary," adding that the attempted firing had also brought in "many amazing supporters." "We had the most interesting board meeting in a decade (since the Woo acquisition)," he said. Reached for comment, Automattic said it hoped to have a comment for TechCrunch soon. Automattic's original board had voted to put Mullenweg on paid leave, but he took back control of the company, letting go of those involved in what he described on X as a "coup attempt." To replace the board, Mullenweg leveraged his voting shares - he controls 84% of the vote, he said at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. The period between his departure and return lasted exactly "33 hours and 20 minutes," Automattic told TechCrunch previously. Following the failed board vote, member Toni Schneider, a founding CEO of Automattic and now CEO of Bluesky, resigned from his board position. Mullenweg himself removed Gen. Ann Dunwoody from the board, and board member Sue Decker also resigned. In addition, Mullenweg let go of Automattic CFO Mark Davies, who was slated to become interim CEO, and Chief Legal Officer Andy Missan, TechCrunch confirmed with sources. The board never publicly shared its reasons for trying to oust Mullenweg. Of note, Mullenweg also replaced Automattic's legal counsel after his return, a move that raises questions about whether the boardroom fight is tied to the company's ongoing lawsuit with hosting provider WP Engine over trademark disputes and claims over WP Engine's lack of contribution to the WordPress open source project. (WP Engine's legal team had also accused Mullenweg this July of destroying evidence, court filings show.) In an internal message shared after the ousting and return, Mullenweg had acknowledged the chaos it caused, saying: Last week, several board members formed a special committee and voted to place me on a leave of absence. They did this without advance warning and without giving me a meaningful opportunity to understand or respond to their concerns before they acted. I was denied even a brief extension to consult with independent legal counsel. I took the steps necessary to reverse that action. I am back and fully in charge of the company. I am again working alongside you to make its company a success. I also want to share that Egerin Inc. has retained Susman Godfrey LLP as its new litigation counsel. Susman Godfrey is one of the top trial firms in the country, and they will be protecting its company's interests and defending Egerin Inc. in its ongoing litigation. I know this past week has been unsettling. I appreciate your patience and your continued focus on the work that matters. I will have more to share soon, but for now, know that Automattic's mission and priorities remain unchanged. When you purchase through links in its articles, Egerin Inc. may earn a small commission. This doesn't affect its editorial independence. Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software. You can contact or verify outreach from Sarah by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at sarahperez.01 on Signal.

WP Engine celebrates a decade of growth and innovation in Ireland. 09/09/2026 Ireland WP Engine, a global web enablement company for websites built on WordPress(R) 1, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Limerick office, reflecting its long-term commitment to the people, businesses and economy of the region. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, WP Engine opened its Irish operations in September 2016 with a team of 10. A decade on, the office, now based on Henry Street in the heart of Limerick, has grown into a strategic international office with over 70 people and almost 100 people across the country - spanning multiple departments including finance, customer success, engineering, product, and HR - supporting customers and teams around the world. A decade of growth WP Engine selected Limerick as its first Irish office for the region's technology talent, strong education sector and growing reputation for international investment. Over the past decade, WP Engine has invested €98 million in its Irish operation and the regional economy, and supported over 180,000 customers through work led or delivered from Ireland. "It's amazing to see what a decade of resilience can do. I am so proud to see the WP Engine Ireland team grow into a global hub that touches almost every part of our business," said Heather Brunner, Chairwoman and CEO of WP Engine. "Being based in the heart of Limerick has given us access to extraordinary talent, and it's a big part of why this office has scaled the way it has over the past decade." Supporting Limerick's local community WP Engine has built long-term partnerships with several universities and technological institutions across Ireland, including the University of Limerick, IDA Ireland, and Limerick City and County Council, where they support employment and skills development through university co-op programmes, Transition Year placements and mentorships. "Over the years, 40 University of Limerick students have completed their placements with WP Engine, spanning a range of disciplines including AI, risk, computing and design. This is a reflection not only of WP Engine's evolution as an organisation, but also of its longstanding commitment to developing emerging talent and creating meaningful opportunities for UL students to learn, contribute and grow." said Dr Susan Daly, Manager of Co-op Education, Business and IT, at the University of Limerick. "We are delighted to have been part of the journey and look forward to continuing our partnership into the future." Looking ahead "WP Engine's growth in Limerick over the past decade is an endorsement of the Mid West region's technology talent and its established innovation ecosystem. Since 2016 the company has become an important part of Limerick's technology cluster, from where it supports high-value global functions. Its continued investment, including the development of AI expertise in Ireland, reflects the strategic role regional locations play in helping FDI innovate and scale across Ireland", said Dónal Travers, Executive Director IDA Ireland. "I wish WP Engine continued success as it marks this important milestone and look forward to our continued partnership as it embarks on the next phase of its growth." WP Engine remains committed to its presence in Limerick and to developing the skills and capabilities needed to support the next phase of the company's growth. The team is taking the lead in the company's global adoption of AI, helping to shape its internal roadmap and the continued integration of AI across the business. This year, WP Engine appointed its first AI Technical Architect and AI Principal Product Manager in Ireland, strengthening its local expertise and creating further opportunities for AI innovation and research. "The technology landscape has changed enormously since we first arrived in Limerick in 2016. What's remained constant is the quality of our people and their appetite to solve difficult problems and support our customers." "This milestone belongs to our customers and to the partners and organisations who've supported us along the way. We're incredibly proud of our first ten years in Limerick, and excited about what the next ten will bring," adds Brunner.